Introdution to economics (new)

Introduction to Economics D.W Hedrick Instructional Method • Primarily Lecture format with discussion, simulations, and video presentations • Constructive discussion is welcomed • Grading is based on Aplia Homeworks (20%), five of seven quizzes (20%), three midterms (20% each), and an optional comprehensive final (replaces lowest midterm) – NO MAKEUPS GIVEN Instructional Method • Suggestions for the study of economics – Read the book before coming to class – Recopy lectures and reread the book within several hours of class – Identify what you don’t understand • • • • Ask questions in class Use the Aplia and the study guide (optional) Go to tutors in supplemental instruction (if offered) Visit the professor during office hours Definition of Economics • Mankiw’s definition – How Society manages its scarce resources • Hedrick’s definition – How society chooses to allocate its scarce resources among competing demands to best satisfy human wants • Alternative definitions – Economics is the study of choice – Economics is what economist – Wikipedia's perspective Scarcity and the Fundamental Questions of Economics • Scarcity : Unlimited wants versus limited resources • Choices and tradeoffs • Opportunity Costs • All societies must answer the WHFM questions – What is to be produced? – How is to be produced? – For whom will it be produced? Economics as a Science • The Scientific Method – Observation →Hypothesis →Testing – Observation: identifying and measuring important variables – orderly loss of information – Hypothesis: educated guesses about cause and effect with the variables • Theories • Models: realism or usefulness – Testing: theories can’t be proven and are supported by repeated failed attempts to disprove them • Microeconomics vs Macroeconomics • The Assumption of Rational Behavior – – – – – Max TNB = TB – TC Boxes Example MB=MC rule People respond to incentives Limits to the use of rational behavior (e.g axe murders) • • • • Microeconomics versus macroeconomics Normative vs positive approaches A brief history of economic thinking The language of economics Mankiw’sTen Principles of Economic Thinking Categories of Basic Principles of Economics • How people make decisions? • How people interact? • How does the economy work overall? How People Make Decisions • Principle #1 - People face tradeoffs – Time allocation – an example of tradeoffs – Production Possibilities Frontier – Efficiency versus equity How People Make Decisions • Principle #2 - The cost of something is what you have to give up to get it – Opportunity costs come from Von Weiser, a German economist late 1800s – Opportunity costs are independent of monetary units – TINSTAAFL – The real costs of going to college How People Make Decisions • Principle #3 - Rational people think at the margin – Rational or irrational decision-making – Marginal benefits and costs versus total benefits and costs – Weighing marginal costs and benefits leads to maximizing net benefits (total welfare) How People Make Decisions • Principle #4 –People respond to incentives – Reactions to changes in marginal benefits and costs – Increases (decreases) in marginal benefits mean more (less) of an activity – Increases (decreases) in marginal costs mean less (more) of an activity – Example of seat belts leading to increased speeds – Example of SUV (with child car seat) in Issaquah How People Interact • Principle #5 - Trade can make everybody better off – Adam Smith author of the “An Inquiry into the Causes and Consequences of the Wealth of Nations” 1776 – Gains from the division of labor and specialization – Mercantilists perspectives – Example of why Ellensburgians should trade with others How People Interact • Principle #6 - Markets are usually a good way of organizing economic activity – Feudal times and haciendas in the new world – The power of trade: cooperation versus conflict – Markets: prices and quantities traded, typical and abstract How People Interact • Principle #6 - Markets are usually a good way of organizing economic activity creativity and productivity and resource allocation – “Failure” of centrally planned economies – “set it and forget it” becomes “compete or be obsolete” How People Interact • Principle #7 Governments can sometimes improve market outcomes – Market signals can fail to allocate resources efficiently or equitably – Public goods, the exclusion principle, the freerider problem and non-rival consumption – External costs and benefits – Examples: vaccines, education, pollution How People Interact • Principle #7 Governments can sometimes improve market outcomes – Equitable or fair distribution of resources – Efficiency and equity: the pie analogy – Government Failure: is government intervention always the proper solution? How the Economy works as a Whole • Principle # – A country’s standard of living depends upon its ability to produce goods and services – Adam Smith’s “An Inquiry into the Nature and the Consequences of the Wealth of Nations” – Materialism – more toys mean more welfare – wealth: a necessary or sufficient condition for happiness (are rich people happier, children with lots of toys) How the Economy works as a Whole • Principle # – A country’s standard of living depends upon its ability to produce goods and services – leisure time and productivity – the factors of production: land or natural resources, labor, capital, entrepreneurship – technology and productivity – the Rule of 72 and growth rates How the Economy works as a Whole • Principle #9 – The general level of prices rises when the government prints and distributes too much money – Definition of money, and economic language How the Economy works as a Whole • Principle #9 – The general level of prices rises when the government prints and distributes too much money – Examples: “Not worth a continental” and Argentina – Establish of the Federal Reserve and the introduction of sustained inflation in the US How the Economy works as a Whole • Principle #10 – Society faces a short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment – Short-run and the long-run – Demand and supply shocks – Short-run increases (decreases) in output above (below) long-run potential output lead to adjustments How the Economy works as a Whole • Principle #10 – Society faces a short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment – Counter-cyclical stabilization versus procyclical destabilization – Political business cycles [...]... costs and benefits leads to maximizing net benefits (total welfare) How People Make Decisions • Principle #4 –People respond to incentives – Reactions to changes in marginal benefits and costs – Increases (decreases) in marginal benefits mean more (less) of an activity – Increases (decreases) in marginal costs mean less (more) of an activity – Example of seat belts leading to increased speeds – Example... ability to produce goods and services – Adam Smith’s “An Inquiry into the Nature and the Consequences of the Wealth of Nations” – Materialism – more toys mean more welfare – wealth: a necessary or sufficient condition for happiness (are rich people happier, children with lots of toys) How the Economy works as a Whole • Principle # 8 – A country’s standard of living depends upon its ability to produce... something is what you have to give up to get it – Opportunity costs come from Von Weiser, a German economist late 1800s – Opportunity costs are independent of monetary units – TINSTAAFL – The real costs of going to college How People Make Decisions • Principle #3 - Rational people think at the margin – Rational or irrational decision-making – Marginal benefits and costs versus total benefits and costs... produce goods and services – leisure time and productivity – the factors of production: land or natural resources, labor, capital, entrepreneurship – technology and productivity – the Rule of 72 and growth rates How the Economy works as a Whole • Principle #9 – The general level of prices rises when the government prints and distributes too much money – Definition of money, and economic language How the... seat belts leading to increased speeds – Example of SUV (with child car seat) in Issaquah How People Interact • Principle #5 - Trade can make everybody better off – Adam Smith author of the “An Inquiry into the Causes and Consequences of the Wealth of Nations” 1776 – Gains from the division of labor and specialization – Mercantilists perspectives – Example of why Ellensburgians should trade with others... of centrally planned economies – “set it and forget it” becomes “compete or be obsolete” How People Interact • Principle #7 Governments can sometimes improve market outcomes – Market signals can fail to allocate resources efficiently or equitably – Public goods, the exclusion principle, the freerider problem and non-rival consumption – External costs and benefits – Examples: vaccines, education, pollution... and distributes too much money – Definition of money, and economic language How the Economy works as a Whole • Principle #9 – The general level of prices rises when the government prints and distributes too much money – Examples: “Not worth a continental” and Argentina – Establish of the Federal Reserve and the introduction of sustained inflation in the US How the Economy works as a Whole • Principle... a short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment – Short-run and the long-run – Demand and supply shocks – Short-run increases (decreases) in output above (below) long-run potential output lead to adjustments How the Economy works as a Whole • Principle #10 – Society faces a short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment – Counter-cyclical stabilization versus procyclical destabilization